• More than 1000 applicants have submitted projects
  • Diverse 24-member jury from all over Germany appointed under the chairmanship of founder Linda Kruse (The Good Evil)
  • Decisions will be made by Christmas

Berlin, 18 November 2024: Todays kick-off event marks the start of the review phase of the numerous applications for the ‘Press Start: Games Founding Grant’ jury. The 24-member expert jury, chaired by Linda Kruse, founder and managing director of The Good Evil, will review and evaluate the applications in a multi-stage process until the beginning of December. The members from all parts of Germany bring a wide range of experience and perspectives to the jury’s work. An intensive phase of work awaits them. By the submission deadline on 17 November, the Foundation for Digital Games Culture had received submissions from over 1000 applicants. The Foundation for Digital Games Culture is responsible for the submission and jury process for the scholarship programme in collaboration with game – the German Games Industry Association. The ‘Press Start: Games Founding Grant’ is funded by the Minister of State for Culture and the Media.

‘The interest in the Games Founding Grant is overwhelming. This shows impressively that start-up funding for game developers was urgently needed for the games industry,’ says Felix Falk, Managing Director of game – the German Games Industry Association. ‘The creative potential of the German games industry is huge. In order to utilise this potential, we need precisely the right framework conditions – both for newcomers to the industry, such as this project, as well as reliable and internationally competitive games funding for existing games companies of all sizes. Germany benefits from this as an economy and technology centre as well as a cultural nation.’

‘We didn’t expect such a high level of interest. We now have a lot of work ahead of us, but thanks to the excellent jury, we will master it well,’ commented Nandita Wegehaupt, Managing Director of the Foundation for Digital Games Culture, on the introduction of the jury members. ‘The jury brings together expertise from indie development to AAA publishing, from the founding process to the actual realisation of game ideas. As the foundation team, we will support the jury in their work to the best of our ability and wish them every success in what will certainly not be an easy selection process.’

Chaired by Linda Kruse the ‘Press Start’ jury brings together the start-up and games expertise of the following industry professionals: Thomas Bedenk (bedenk.de/sign), Valentina Birke (Super Crowd Entertainment), Mona Brandt (Freelancing UI/UX/Gamedesign), Marek Brunner (Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle – USK), Lena Falkenhagen (Schriftstellerin und Spieleautorin), Manuel Fritsch (Insert Moin / IGN Deutschland), Adrian Goersch (Black Forest Games), Tobias Graff (Mooneye Studios), Daniel Helbig (Megagon Industries), Sebastian Hollstein (I knew It! – Games / Hochschule Luzern), Jan Klose (game Hessen), Ulrike Küchler (Gamebook Studio HQ), Ruth Lemmen (Interim Management + Coaching), Michael Liebe (Booster Space Events & Consulting), Benjamin Lochmann (Pixel Maniacs), Jennifer Pankratz (Pithead Studio), Jana Reinhardt (Rat King Entertainment), Wolfgang Schmitz (Ahoiii Entertainment), Manouchehr Shamsrizi (gamelab.berlin), Mai-Vy Thach (Capcom), Martin Thiele-Schwez (Playing History), Anika Thun (Kalypso Media Group) und Carolin Wendt (CD Projekt RED).

All applicants will be notified by Christmas.